Coaching Retreads Fail to Find Traction in the NFL

On Saturday night, the Oakland Raiders officially named Jon Gruden their new head coach.

The former Super Bowl champion last coached in the NFL in 2008. He returns to Oakland where his career started as a head coach nearly 20 years ago.

Gruden joins a long list of coaching retreads. The Raiders are betting, gave him a 10-year deal approaching $100 million, that Gruden’s experience running a team can return the franchise to glory. Will this gamble pay off or are Raiders fans in for a long decade?

Since 1998, when Gruden was first hired by the Raiders, 18 teams have employed coaches with prior experience. The results have been disappointing.

Only six of the 18 coaches managed to have a better winning percentage their second time around compared to the first coaching gig. NFL coaching retreads have combined to go 343-448 (43.4%) straight-up since 1998. Even if we remove Hue Jackson (1-31 in Cleveland after going 8-8 in Oakland), one of the worst coaching retreads in NFL history the hand-me-down leaders still have an ugly 342-417 (45.1%) record.

The performance on the field has hurt bettors too. In the previous jobs, these 18 coaches went 773-744 (51.0%) ATS but slipped below .500 in their next NFL stop with a combined 368-409 (47.4%) ATS record.

In 50 combined seasons since 1998, the coaching retreads made the playoffs just 16 times (32.0%). Only two squads made it past the Divisional Round with the Gary Kubiak-led Broncos in 2015 winning the Super Bowl in Peyton Manning’s final season.

Gruden wouldn’t be the first retread to lead a team to the Super Bowl but history is not on his or the Raiders’ side.